Ralph Lazo

Ralph Lazo

Ralph Lazo was an unsung hero to many Japanese-Americans. Many of his friends and classmates were being taken away. Their daily normal lives just stopped. They were all being taken to Manzanar.

One of Ralph's classmates was moved to Manzanar. He got a note a week later from him describing life at Manzanar. He felt he had to do something to fix what was wrong. He wrote a letter back saying he would arrive at Manzanar at a certain date. Sure enough he arrived on that day and put himself in an unnecessary, uncomfortable spot.

Ralph did not have to put himself in this position. The government was only looking to move Japanese-Americans and Ralph was Mexican-American but still put himself in that spot. They never figured out that he wasn't Japanese until he started fighting in the war. He stopped his entire life to help people that he barely or didn't know.

Ralph did everything he could to make life better at Manzanar. One person at Manzanar said "He spoke little Japanese but fired up a crowd". Ralph gave a little taste and energy to their boring everyday lives now. Ralph became life-long friends with many of the people at Manzanar.